The present invention relates to thermal printing postage meter and, more particularly, to an apparatus for sensing the presence of a properly positioned envelope on the feed deck particularly suited for thermal postage meter applications.
A new and novel thermal postage meter assembly includes a number of modules or systems. It was the objective of this thermal postage meter to function such that upon the placement of an envelope on the deck of the thermal printer by an operator, the envelope encounters a position sensing assembly which include an envelope stop arrangement to assure proper longitudinal envelope positioning. Upon proper positioning of the envelope on the deck, the position sensing assembly senses the presence of the envelope, a microcontroller is programmed to first duck the positioning sensing assembly out of the way, inclusive of the stop assembly, and initiate the print sequence. Upon initiation of the print sequence, a platen roller assembly should be positionable to bring the print area of the envelope is brought into contact with the print ribbon of a ribbon cassette. A thermal print head of the postage meter should be located to act as a backing to the print ribbon. The microcontroller is responsible for causing a positioning of the platen roller into a print position and for rotating the platen roller for printing. Following completion of the print cycle, it is necessary for the microcontroller to cause the envelope to be ejected from the postage meter.